Kill the Lights
by Juno's Peacock
Summary: A short NNK story. One stormy night, Esther admits to herself that she's awfully afraid of thunderstorms. To get out of her childish misery, she seeks for shelter by her gruff team member Swaine...without any ulterior motives.


„This...this is the second time. No…I think it's already the third time…"

Esther tried desperately to put her mind in gear and at the same time forcing her eyes to pierce through the darkness that surrounded her. Right now she was in her own room in the Cat's Cradle in Ding Dong Dell, hastily clutching her blanket as she dragged it up to her face. Esther couldn't tell what time it was, maybe it was past midnight. Maybe, maybe not.

Slowly she raised one of her hands and touched her face lightly. God, how could it be that her arm feels like it's filled with cement? Her fingers felt something wet on her skin and she wiped away the tears with a shaky hand.

"Uuh...another nightmare…"

Esther sniffled and took a deep breath. Those nightmares were coming and going but this one has been the third in a row and it was horrible. On one hand she tried to remember what exactly it was about, but on the other hand it made her shudder.

But that wasn't the worst part of this night.

A sudden lightning crossed the sky and filled the room for a split second with a sallow light. Then came the growl of the thunder.

Esther winced, quickly pulling the blanket over her head so that it covered her whole body. She wrapped herself up in the blanket, like a caterpillar in a cocoon and tried her best to calm down. The rain pelted heavily against the windowpane and Esther almost thought that it would be enough to break it.

She remained like that for a few minutes, the only sound she could hear was her rash breathing and the drumming sound of the rain against the window and the roof above her. And it was an awful sound, this new noise was almost unbearable for the desert girl.

So that's it. Since Esther was travelling with Oliver, Mr. Drippy and Swaine, she had only encountered two thunderstorms in her entire life. Living in the desert brought some advantages, for example, no storms, no rain, no lightnings. But this one was different. It has been raining and thundering the whole night and combined with her nightmare, Esther knew that there was no chance that she would get a wink of sleep tonight.

"Dammit, girl!" she cursed and squeezed her eyes shut when another thunder rolled through the night sky. "Get a grip! O-Only children are a-afraid of…uaah!"

A thunder once more, this time loud and near enough to make her shriek. Esther pressed the palms of her hands against her ears, trying her best to block out this horrible sound.

But it all didn't help. Esther's body shook violently under the blanket and she desperately tried to blink back the tears. Usually she would have already summoned her familiars and let them sleep next to her. But like every day on their journey they encountered some really nasty beasts on their way and Esther knew that her familiars need some time to recover. She couldn't wake them up just because she was a little bit scared of a thunderstorm…that's ridiculous.

"W-what should I do?" Esther sniveled and dared to peek out of her cocoon.

In this situation she felt like a pathetic little child who is afraid of a little bit rain and lightning. And if this horrible feeling of being alone in a goddamn thunderstorm lasts any longer…oh, she knew, she'd definitively lose her mind.

As long as she's alone…

Alone…

That's it.

Her eyes glued to the wooden door of her room. Should she really try it? Another tremendous thunder echoed in the night and that answered her question. Yep, she would do it!

Without thinking too much she quickly tossed the blanket to the side, leaving the warmth she had built up behind. Instead she grabbed her pillow and carefully stood up from the bed. Luckily the door isn't far away from her bed and so she made some careful but shaky steps towards her exit out of this misery. A lightning suddenly lit the room, making her shadow visible for a single second. Esther quickly put her hands to her ears and waited with trembling legs.

3…

2…

1…

**BOOOOOOM!**

The thunder sounded like a dazzling bomb that someone had placed under her window and Esther winced once more. After her heart found halfway back to normal rhythm, she placed her twitching fingers on the doorknob and quickly stepped outside.

It was chilly in the corridor, but the patter of the rain was only a dull sound anymore but it was still awful enough to rob her sleep. Esther looked to the left side, knowing that his room was somewhere down there.

"Number 7….number 8, number 9, ah, number 10!" Esther stood in front of door Number 10, the last one in this corridor. And as usual, the last room of the Inn was always occupied by Swaine.

Esther gulped heavily. Her throat was dry and her stomach wanted to turn when she placed both hands on the doorknob and her pillow between elbow and ribs.

"I c-can't believe I'm really doing that…" she muttered and just when she wanted to open the door, she paused. And withdrew her hands.

Should she really wake up Swaine in the middle of the night? She knew how moody the thief can be in the early morning but in the middle of the night?

Esther remembered one time, when Drippy woke up Swaine with his usual annoying habit of screaming and singing in the morning and all the fairy got in return was a fierce pillow right in the face.

_Well, he wouldn't attack me with his pillow…would he?_

Esther decided to try a more ladylike way of waking him up. Slowly she raised a hand and knocked gently with her knuckles against the wood.

Nothing.

"Hmpf!" Esther tried again, this time a little bit louder.

No response.

"You gotta be kidding me…" the girl threw her head back in frustration and looked at the black ceiling. Well, there's only one way out of this misery. Esther knew that Swaine never locked his door which, she admitted, was pretty reckless for a thief.

"Oh God, give me strength to survive this night..." she sighed and took all her remaining courage to open the door.

Quickly and without making a noise she slipped through the doorframe into the room. Creeping around in the night was something she wasn't used to at all and it sent a chill down her spine. Esther carefully closed the door, trying not to make any unwelcoming sound. Then she pressed the pillow against her chest and narrowed her eyes as best as she could.

All she managed to see was a figure lying in the bed, somewhere under a mess of blankets and pillows. The sound of faint snoring could be heard and Esther shook her head in disbelief.

"How can you be so sound asleep during a storm?" she asked herself and right in this moment a rolling thunder pierced through the atmosphere.

Esther shuddered heavily and now the sound of the rain pelting against the window found its way back into her ears and racketed in her brain. Shaking her head, Esther knew that there's no way back now.

"S-Swaine?" She awkwardly cleared her throat but all she got was continuously snoring.

Well, if that's so…then now it's time to bring the big guns in. The girl quickly walked over to the bed, pillow still pressed against her chest. With big eyes she reached out a hand and gently touched Swaine's shoulder.

"Swaine, it's…it's me, Esther. Oh, please wake up…" She started shaking his shoulder back and forth and… well, well! Look, who found his way out of the dreamlands into the reality!

Esther quickly withdrew her hand and made a step backwards, eagerly watching the thief moving in his bed. Swaine blinked his eyes open and halfheartedly rolled himself on his stomach, facing the girl with a killing glance that could even be seen through the dull darkness.

A shy smile formed on Esther's face as her heart started to race again.

"H-Hi! I'm sorry to wake you up but…"

"Zzzzz…the hell, Esther?" he mumbled into the pillow, difficult for the girl to understand. "If this freaking dump isn't on fire then there's no need…to…zzzzzzz…"

And with that, the thief turned his head around and pulled the blanket over his messy mop of hair. But Esther won't give up so easily. The rain became louder, sending tremors down her whole body.

"Swaine! It's urgent, so please listen to me!" She grabbed his blanket and wanted to pull it away but the thief was surprisingly swift in his current mental state and got a hold of it.

"WHAT?" he snarled at her and Esther immediately let go of his blanket. The harsh tone of his voice scared her and she started to rethink her idea. But going back and staying in her room alone the whole awful night wasn't an opportunity either, so…

"I…I wanted to ask i-if it's possible f-for me to stay here…the night…p-please…"

There, she said it. This is the point of no return.

Esther closed her eyes and hold her breath. She could feel how the heat slowly crept into her face and was thankful for the darkness around her. Clenching her fists and teeth, she prepared herself for any kind of mockery Swaine had in petto at this moment. Maybe he suddenly sat up and laughed at her, telling how stupid and childish she acted. That she, a young woman, is afraid of storms!

But nothing of that kind happened. Instead Swaine, still facing Esther with his back, made a half-assed gesture with his hand and grumbled something that sounded like "Whatever."

_Wow…that was unsatisfying easy._

Esther pushed the air out of her lungs and cleared her throat again. Actually she wanted to thank him, but threw the chance of a _'thank you'_ out of the window when Swaine slowly shifted his body to the side, making some free space for the girl in the single bed.

She didn't need to be told twice. Quickly and with shaky hands she placed her pillow directly beside Swaine's and used the new free space to make herself comfortable.

"Glad he doesn't ask any questions." she thought amused to herself and took the other side of the blanket to cover her as much as possible. They were lying back against back, Esther facing the door while Swaine faced the window. And Esther was thankful for that position, looking out of the window right now during a storm would end in a horrible disaster for her.

But still, Esther wasn't able to fall asleep again. The rain outside hit the window again, this time with even more force and Esther could swear, that it sounded like hailstones. The girl tossed and turned quietly, eyes squeezed shut and trying to find her way into the lands of dreams again.

A sudden lightning lit up the dark room and Esther opened her eyes unintentionally. And when she did, she gasped for air when she spotted a blurry shadow on the wooden door. But the shadow disappeared after a split second, followed by a tremendous thunder in the night.

"I…I'm just imagining things…It's not real, it's not real, it's not real!" Esther thought desperately and buried her face into the pillow. Hot tears started to dam up in her eyes once again as she dug her nails into the pillow. Her shoulders started to shake lightly…she just couldn't control it anymore.

"No, no…come on, Esther. Don't cry, it's alright…"

Forcefully she cracked her eyes open. It was already hard enough to see in the dark, but with teary eyes it was even harder. The shadow she had spotted just a moment ago was still gone.

_It…it looked like…S-Shadar…_

The girl started to sob into her pillow as calmly as possible but a whimper escaped her throat as another thunder pierced through the night sky and made her wince.

Suddenly she could feel Swaine moving next to her. With a groan he rolled his body to the other side and ended up with his face in her messy long hair.

"'Sup, Esther…?" he muttered into her blonde hair. "Can't sleep?"

Esther gulped. She had never experienced another body so close to hers and the fact, that it was Swaine's made her heart jump a little bit. She sniveled and was desperately searching for her voice.

"S-Sorry…" was all she managed to get out of her throat as she bit her bottom lip.

Somehow she forced her body to sit upright a bit, her part of the blanket pulled up to her face and covered her mouth as her twitching fingers clutched it frantically. Swaine groaned in frustration when he also tried an attempt to get up. He clumsily reached out a hand and actually had the intention to touch her shoulder and force her to lay back again.

Instead his fingers touched her cheek and he felt something wet. His eyes fluttered open.

"Esther? Are you…crying?"

_Goddamn it, Esther._

"N-no…"

Esther turned her head away, blushing all over. Oh God, could it get even more awkward than that?

"Waiiiiiiiit aaaaa minute…" Swaine muttered, his senses slowly coming awake one by one. He suddenly grabbed Esther by her arm, causing the girl to stare at him utterly shocked. Another lighting lit up the room and by the mischievous grin that formed on Swaine's sleepy face, she knew that he had already put two and two together.

"Don't tell me…" he started quietly and his sly grin only grew bigger "Don't tell me that you, of all people, are afraid of thunderstorms!"

"No! I'm not, I-" she shouted at him with a tearful voice but was cut off by his stupid laughter.

"Pfffff, haha! Our little 'Miss familiar tamer' is afraid of some thunder! You just made my day, hahaaa!"

Esther just couldn't believe it. With a snort she wrenched from his grasp and turned around, legs hanging of the edge of the bed. Now she didn't even had the strength to stop the tears from running down her face, hurt by his emotional rudeness towards her.

"Thank you, Swaine!" she screamed and clenched her fists until her knuckles cracked. "Thanks for nothing and your brutal stupidity, you goddamn idiot!"

And just when she wanted to stand up and rush out of the room, she could feel a pair of hands around her waist pulling her back in the bed with a swift movement.

"Sheesh, Esther. I'm only joking. You can't take me serious in the middle of the night…"

Swaine suddenly let himself fall back into the pillows with arms still around the girl. Esther wanted to say something but was somehow taken aback by the fact, that her head rested now on Swaine's shoulder, with his arm around her, pulling her closer. His other arm grabbed the blanket and pulled it over their bodies, then somehow came to rest around her waist, keeping her in place.

Esther felt like her heart was about to melt. Or to explode into thousands of pieces since it pounded so rapidly against her chest that it almost hurt.

"W-Why…?"

"Why _what_?"

"Why are you so stupid?"

She could hear him chuckle faintly, amused by her sudden question.

"Mmm…I was just making fun of you, Esther." he murmured and could feel how fatigue started to prevail again. He let out a long yawn. "Like always…"

"But that's not funny, you idiot…"

Esther nibbled her bottom lip again to distract her from her beating heart. Not in a hundred years she had imagined to be so close to the thief who kept arguing with her every single day of their journey. He, who always kept her busy with his battle of words, his mockery and his sarcasm. And yet there was always something else budding inside of her except for the anger whenever they started bickering.

Look Esther, where you've landed…now she was here, lying next to him in his arms as if he wanted to comfort her.

"If that's so…" His words suddenly dragged her back to reality. "…then I'm sorry…"

She didn't know if she could believe this apology, but decided to stay silent for a moment. A quiet smile formed on her lips and she snuggled into his embrace. Even though she would never ever say that out loud, but it felt good being held like that. But the fact that Swaine was already half asleep again and that he probably won't remember anything in the morning gave her a sting in the heart.

Or shouldn't she actually be thankful for that? Shouldn't she?

But the peaceful silence got disturbed by a deafening thunder that pierced through the night, even louder than before. Esther winced again, eyes tight shut and buried her face in his shoulder as her body started to shiver again. She could feel how her fingers found some fabric of Swaine's pyjama jacket and started to clung onto it.

"Shhh…relax, please…" Swaine muttered and turned his head into her direction. His lips found her forehead by mistake but it seemed like he used this chance to place a gentle kiss as if he thought that might reassure her.

Esther would have gasped for air loudly if there hadn't been something distracting her. His stubbles. They were tickling her skin and even though she wanted to act mature, she couldn't suppress a giggle.

"Mmh…what's so funny?"

"Your stubbles…"

"Huh?"

"They're tickling!"

"You like that?"

"No, it's annoying!"

"Then why are you laughing?"

"Because…pfff, haha, stop that!"

The thief smirked slyly. "Hmmmm…nope." he said with a hushed voice and planted another kiss on her forehead, then down the bridge of her nose, the tip of her nose and…he stopped, right in the moment when his forehead touched hers.

Esther couldn't tell what would happen next. Blocking out the noise of the storm, she tried to figure out what Swaine was trying to do. Was he enough in his right mind to kiss her? Would he really do that? And more important…should she kiss him back? Above all she was just glad that Swaine wasn't able to see her whole face in the dark, now that she was blushing all over…

"S-Swaine, I-"

"You should try to get some sleep, huh?" Swaine quietly interrupted her and shifted his body so that his face was above hers again. "Just in case I'll do something stupid…I won't remember it anyway in the morning, so…"

He yawned loudly while playing with a strand of her hair and pretended to fall asleep. Esther, however, wasn't amused by this at all. At first trying to kiss her and now leaving her behind like this? Oh, she wasn't sure if she would let him get away with that…

With a deep growl Esther nudged him with her elbow into the stomach. She could hear him groan and pushing out air of his lungs. But suddenly Esther felt his grip around her tighten abruptly, pulling her closer and teeth against her forehead.

"Ooooh, just you wait! I'll definitively remember that, missy…"

"We'll see…hey, stop biting me."

"I'm not biting you…"

"Of course you are!"

"You've no idea how biting works, Esther…"

"Are you kidding me?!"

Swaine chuckled to himself and closed his mouth. He never had the intention to bit her, just teasing was enough and he could feel how she relaxed in his arms, tension leaving her body.

"So…you're not afraid anymore?"

"Afraid of what?"

"The storm outside? For crying out loud, Esther, why did you come here in the first place again?"

"…oh."

The thief shook his head in amusement and took a deep breath, waiting patiently for an answer. But Esther didn't know what to answer. Her tears were dried but her heart was still racing. And not only because of the storm outside but also by the storm in her heart. Esther didn't know if now was the right time to tell him that she wasn't only afraid of the storm, but also of the nightmare.

_No…the nightmare will disappear. As long as you're here with me, I'm safe and sound…_

"I think so…" she mumbled quietly and secretly listened to the beat of the thief's heart, now that she was so close to him. "…at least for this night."

"I see…" Swaine whispered and stopped fighting against fatigue. "Hmm, but if there're more thunderstorms crossing our journey you can gladly share a bed with me…"

"Oh, you'd like that, you pervert!" Esther suddenly called out but at the same time she had to control herself not to burst into hysterical laughter.

"It's not what you think, you minx." Swaine groaned and considered if now was the right time to bite her. But he decided against it. He smirked to himself and decided to keep that for the next storm that will come, sooner or later.

"Wait…did you just call me a minx?"

"You called me pervert…"

"Because you are a pervert, you freak!"

"And you're a feisty, little b-…!"

Esther gasped indignantly for air before Swaine was even able to finish his sentence, although he knew that even in his current mental state he'd regret whatever he really wanted to say.

"…brat." he finished his sentenced and released sharp air through his clenched teeth. But Esther's eyes grew wide in the darkness, even Swaine with his sleepy eyes noticed this change.

"Pah! You wanted to call me…mmmph?!"

The girl got silenced by Swaine's left hand that had been resting on her waist a few moments ago and now covered her mouth. Swaine saw this as the only method to silence her right now, since his brain didn't fulfill its tasks anymore with fatigue so close to him. Something wet and slimy suddenly covered the palm of his hand and he quickly withdrew from Esther's mouth.

"Did…" he stuttered and stared at his hand in bewilderment, his already slow brain function tried to realize what just happened. "Did you just _lick_ my hand? Eww, that's so gross, Esther…"

Esther, however, pulled a sulky face and stretched out her tongue. Whatever just happened, she really hoped that he won't remember this awkward moment in the morning. Also, somehow she hoped she won't remember it either…

"I've to correct myself…you're no minx, you're a little devil…" Swaine tightened his grip around her a little more and wiped his left hand in the blanket. Not expecting to hear that, Esther suddenly went bright red but at the same time made herself comfortable in his embrace.

Esther suddenly felt how her eye lids got heavy, tiredness now finally reaching her too. And right now she didn't even mind the maddening noise caused by the rain outside. She was just happy that she could finally get some sleep…at the most unthinkable place on earth.

Maybe now was the time to get the _'thank you'_ back she threw out of the window earlier.

"Thank you, Swaine…" she muttered and closed her eyes but not without snuggling up against him one last time. She fell into a deep slumber immediately.

Swaine didn't answer. Instead he pulled the blanket over her shoulder which was exposed to the night. Just when he wanted to place a last kiss on her forehead he stopped in motion and decided against it. Instead his gaze wandered down and so did his lips when they ghosted over hers and finally gave her the kiss she had been waiting for.

Leaning back, he let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes too, getting lulled by the soft noises she made in his arms when she fell asleep.


End file.
